ECV1850 Plaque:
Bell Station

BELL STATION

A TOLL ROAD WAS BUILT OVER PACHECO PASS
IN 1857 BY ANDREW D. FIREBAUGH. LATER IN
THE SAME YEAR HE BUILT A TAVERN NEAR
THIS SITE, WHICH BECAME A BUTTERFIELD
TRANSCONTINENTAL STAGE STOP. IN 1859,
THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC COMPANY BUILT
A TELEGRAPH LINE OVER THE PASS AND A
TELEGRAPH STATION WAS ESTABLISHED HERE.
LAFAYETTE F. BELL PURCHASED THE TOLL ROAD,
STAGE STOP, TAVERN, AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE
FOR $4,000 IN 1863. WHEN A POST OFFICE
WAS ADDED IN 1873, THE TAVERN AND STAGE
STOP BECAME KNOWN AS BELL STATION.

BELL STATION MAY BE THE SOLE REMAINING
NAME ON THE CALIFORNIA MAP IN WHICH "STATION"
REFERS NOT TO A RAILROAD STATION, BUT A
STAGE COACH STATION.